GUN BAN: Guns are normally allowed with permits, but the national police chief has imposed a weeklong ban as a `preventive measure' as coup rumors swirl
Military and police generals pledged their support for the embattled Philippine president yesterday as a deepening corruption scandal unleashed a fresh wave of nationwide protests on the anniversary of a "people power" revolt.

[ FULL STORY ]

HYBRID OPERATION: As international pressure mounts, China's envoy urged Sudan to remove obstacles to deployment of non-African forces
China, under international pressure to help end conflict in Darfur, made a rare call on its ally Sudan on Sunday to do more to allow foreign peacekeepers to deploy to the region.

[ FULL STORY ]

World governments focus too much on fighting terrorism while obesity and other "lifestyle diseases" are killing millions more people, an international conference heard yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called yesterday for new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear drive as he started a rare visit to Japan, which maintains trade ties with the Islamic republic.

[ FULL STORY ]

NEW VOICE: During his campaign, Demetris Christofias, who is now the only communist head of state in the EU, pledged to renew official contacts with Turkish Cypriots
International efforts to reunify Cyprus were set to take a step forward after communist party chief Demetris Christofias was elected president, vowing to renew contacts with the rival Turkish Cypriots.

[ FULL STORY ]

'CLEANSING OPERATION': Turkish technicians were inspecting the wreckage of a helicopter to determine the cause of a crash. Rebels claimed they shot it down
Turkish troops fired more than 40 salvos of artillery shells across the Iraqi border yesterday, a day after the military confirmed that a Turkish helicopter had crashed in Iraq and eight soldiers were killed during a cross-border ground operation against Kurdish rebels.

[ FULL STORY ]

Four environmental campaigners breached security at London's Heathrow airport yesterday, climbing aboard a parked aircraft and unfurling a banner protesting against runway expansion plans.

[ FULL STORY ]

Palestinians formed a human chain in the Gaza Strip yesterday in protest at a crushing Israeli blockade, with Israeli forces on alert for any rush on the border.

[ FULL STORY ]

SPOILER?: The longtime consumer advocate said he will decide in the coming days whether to run as an independent, green party candidate or in another third party
Ralph Nader has announced a fresh bid for the White House, criticizing the top contenders as too close to big business and dismissing the possibility that his third-party candidacy could tip the election to Republicans.

[ FULL STORY ]

PRAISE: The Nation of Islam minister also made small jabs at Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, suggesting she is part of the politics of the past
In his first major public address since a cancer crisis, Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan said that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the "hope of the entire world" that the US will change for the better.

[ FULL STORY ]

An Argentine girl who turned 17 yesterday has become a mother of seven after giving birth to her second set of triplets, drawing attention to teen sex education and contraception laws in her Catholic country, media reports said.

[ FULL STORY ]

IMAGES: A suicide bomber in a wheelchair killed a top policeman and wounded two others when he blew himself up in the police operations center in Samarra
A roadside bomb killed three people on a Shiite pilgrimage yesterday morning as they traveled through the outskirts of Baghdad -- the third attack in the past two days on pilgrims headed to the holy city of Karbala.

[ FULL STORY ]

'THE PRUSSIAN': There were no riots and no exodus of refugees following Fidel's departure, as the communist government that was supposed to crumble held fast
Maybe charisma isn't that important after all.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ PAKISTAN
[ FULL STORY ]